Microsoft's RSS Blog Pranked For Hotlinking Flickr Photo Without Proper Attribution

Posted on December 6, 2006

Tom Bishop, who blogs for the Seattle-PI, blogs that a post on Microsoft's RSS Blog temporarily contained a modified Goatse image before it was removed. Microsoft had hotlinked a Gnomedex photograph from Niall Kennedy's Flickr account without proper proper attribution so Kennedy decided to teach them a lesson by swapping the Gnomedex photograph with a modified Goatse image. Because Microsoft had hotlinked the photograph the Goatse image started showing up on its RSS Blog. Kennedy explains how he modified the Goatse image by adding the Creative Commons circle logo here.

I decided to educate Microsoft about the use of images licensed under Creative Commons and hosted by third-party sites by using the same tactics employed in its own fight against piracy, but with a little twist. I edited the Goatse image to remove depictions of anything that might be considered offensive, and placed the Creative Commons circle logo covering up the focus of the image. The modified image was meant to send a message to readers of the Internet Explorer team's blog that the new picture was out of place, and ensure quick corrective action from Microsoft. I was unsure how many employees in the software division would get the subtle reference to Microsoft's own anti-piracy efforts.

Niall Kennedy told Tom Bishop that he was upset Microsoft had stolen his photograph.

He wasn't pleased that Microsoft used his photo on a commercial site, without attribution. In addition, he said, the use of the photo violated the Flickr terms of service by not linking back to the site.
"Basically they stole one of my photos and put it on their blog," Kennedy said. "I decided to make them very aware of that fact."
Presumably, they are. The updated RSS Team post now concludes with an apology to Kennedy for the improper use, in addition to an apology to readers who saw the second image. What's your opinion of what Kennedy did? Was he justified? Should be interesting to see what people think of this one.

Security Pro News, which has an article about the prank played on Microsoft's RSS Blog points out that Robert Scoble is critical of Kennedy's method. Scoble says:

I'm sure that gets everyone 16 and under to laugh, but is that really the best way that Niall could have gotten the image taken down?
I don't think so. Unprofessional, especially for someone who used to work at Microsoft.
Remember Niall, maybe someday this Web 2.0 bubble will end and you might need to go back to a company and look for a job. I know that doesn't seem probable right now, but I've been there.

For webmasters it is very irritating if someone is stealing your work -- especially if they are stealing your bandwidth at the same time. Two wrongs don't make a right and Kennedy could certainly have taken a different tactic (or used a different photograph) but this method seems to have worked pretty well. Plus, he did alter the image so that it was not nearly as bad as it could have been.

Microsoft has posted an apology to the end of the post that contained Niall Kennedy's photograph. Kennedy also explains the whole ordeal in this blog post.